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Hidefall
Hidefall is a hidden city of thieves located somewhere in the Ranger's Despair mountain range west of Alent in Libaterra in the Third Age. It acts as the seat of power for the Union Workers and where the thieves' Assembly of High Masters decides the actions of all the members of the Union. The city's location has been deliberately kept hidden for decades, and no outsiders were allowed to enter until 1017 AE when Raul Emmenson brought a group of non-Union people with him into the city. The thieves of the Union have gone to great lengths to keep their city hidden although it has cost them much over the years. History Origins Hidefall was founded by the Assembly of the Union Workers in the early centuries of the Third Age. The thieves of the Union decided that the Ranger's Despair mountain range, located west of Libaterra's capital of Lutherin would be a suitably remote yet central enough location for their base of operations from which they could spread out to all corners of Libaterra sooner or later. As centuries passed, Hidefall expanded, growing into a large city protected by the seemingly unreachable mountains. It was successfully kept hidden from the rest of Libaterra while the Union's influence grew, and what had once been a thieves guild began resembling a knightly order of sorts. The Union subtly aided factions it was interested in every once in a while but preferred to stay out of larger conflicts such the Libaterran Civil War, Yamatian Invasion and Great War. Even when the Cataclysm struck and devastated much of Libaterra, Hidefall stayed hidden, preferring to keep the status quo of the Union's noninterference policy. Involvement in War In 1017 AE, the balance of power changed in Libaterra as the Libaterran Rebels formed the Crimson Coalition with other factions and rose to power in Western Libaterra. The Coalition began a campaign in the continent and even targeted underworld elements to make sure that they'd either submit or be wiped out. Several Union operatives lost their lives in the Coalition's campaign, which prompted Hidefall to respond in kind, which led the Union to reveal itself to Libaterra as well as potential allies and enemies while it sided with the Magicracy of Alent and the Grand Alliance against the Coalition. Hidefall sent several regiments to aid Alent in the Battle of the Rivers. Hidefall's location was revealed to outsiders when Union thief Raul Emmenson chose to take Haruko Mizushima and her protectors, who weren't members of the Union, to the safety of the city. This resulted in the forces who were after Haruko to target the thief city, leading to the Battle of Hidefall during which many Union thieves lost their lives and which prompted the fellowship which had protected Haruko to go after her when she was kidnapped during the battle. In the weeks following the battle, Hidefall's population has been waning because of the Union's involvement in several conflicts which has resulted in the loss of hundreds of Union's men and women. The city is still vital enough due to its healthy infrastructure, however, but its future seems unccertain although plans are afoot which intend to shake the hierarchy of Hidefall from within. Layout Hidefall has expanded as the Union's population, influence, and abilities have grown. This means that after a certain amount of time, the walls in each generation of the city couldn't hold the volume of people, and a new one had to be created. This has turned into a continuous tradition, as currently they are on the tenth wall. Each district of Hidefall is created by its position on the wall before it, and mathematical equalling. This means that as one goes farther from the center of the city, they would notice that the districts become seemingly larger, but for the most part, the districts are equal to eachother as accurate as the Union loremasters can manage. Being a society based highly upon financial accumulation when it was in its infancy, the city's markets are a merchant's heaven, with Union agents intermixed constantly watching for thieves trying to steal from the hand that feeds them. In return, to feed said thieves, these merchants agree to give the Union as a body a sizable discount along with the usual bulk discount, since they are almost always members of the Union themselves. Occasionally, an Apprentice member may be permitted to sell things, if an officer in the Union is with them, or has his own troops on the outsider. In the center, is what appears to be a mysterious fortress, cobbled and built together with parts of it hovering overhead the people of the city. It's large enough to be seen far from the city, even over the most recent wall, and from any point in the city, you can get a clear view of the top of it. The inner districts, called the Purse by the more common Union personnel in the city, are where the very highest ranking, most important, and their entourages of the best people the Union has live here, with the Assembly itself living inside the massive structure in the center, which is called the Kirkjan. The name Kirkjan is from one of the two languages used within the Union, and it means something along the lines of fortress, fortified, or castle. There are main roads in a network throughout Hidefall's buildings, in a well-designed system optimized for the Union's forces, all leading back to the center of the city. During times when Hidefall might be at risk from natural disaster or such, the people of the city have been evacuated below the Kirkjan into the Old City, a system of fortified caves that eventually opens up into massive open ruin underground. The Union carefully stabilizes any ground they build over, which usually means they must bury parts of the magnficent cavern. Besides the one in Hidefall, there are no other known entrances, and only the oldest or most influential people know much more about the Old City than hearsay and rumor, and many simply believe it's a myth. Certainly, the common conception of it being an invincible, unassailable cavern is. The city is constructed mostly of carved rock and metal, with unknown patterns of construction. There are many mummified bodies of various mortal races within. Although the cavern is worn, it seems like it is carefully kept maintained, as Union investigators over the ages have recorded broken things within the city being fixed, mended, or even entirely replaced without explanation. Nobody knows exactly how deep the hallways go beneath the main opening, any expeditions that went below more than a mile have never returned. The Union formerly became curious, thinking there may have been traps guarding ancient treasure, and long ago many entire Cells of Union Thieves vanished. After four major multi-Cell incursions, all of the bodies of the various Union Thieves that had vanished were arranged on spears of unknown make and material, the bodies were impaled in a variety of ways, naked, and most of them decomposing into the same mummified state as the rest of the bodies in the city. The spears were placed in the entrances of all routes into what is now called the Deep Chasm. In the many years since then, the Assembly and those few others that know enough about the Deep City to get there have carefully guarded their secret, as not to start uncontrollable panic. Over time, the refusal to talk about it led to only the Assembly and it's immediate agents being aware, the others that had known long dead without having told others. Since it's fairly safe to be in the City so long as you don't go past the pikes, the Union has used the City as shelter once before when they were adequately threatened, as the City has historically been larger than Hidefall above, however, as Hidefall has grown this has ceased to be true. See also *Battle of Hidefall *Steelfall *Union Workers Category:Cities in Libaterra Category:Libaterra Category:Third Age Category:Union Workers